Le Cirque Des Cassés

Chapter Twelve: Cut

"Explosive Sadism; people that abuse others when upset, thus allowing them to have a sense of control."

Cut could not care less about what all was going on. Even while he sat with Poison and Bite, the three sitting on the bleachers in the main tent. Cut on the row just above the other two, forming a triangle. Cut heard them worrying about why Ringmaster requested everyone who was there before Cut. He didn't care about much honestly, it took a lot of time and effort to get him to care about things, so Ringmaster never bothers. 

"Do you think it's something dangerous?" Bite said softly, she's always timid around Cut. Maybe it's because she is afraid he will hurt her, and honestly, Cut might. 

"I fucking doubt it," Cut said suddenly, getting Bite and Poison's attention immediately. "If it was something involving danger, he wouldn't have included Doll. She is too fragile to help in those situations, and he might've included me if it was dangerous since I am strong enough to protect someone, I just choose not to."

"Fair point," Poison said. Bite shrugged softly. Usually these three don't hang out. Bite sticks around Whisper and Dancer and Cut was practically convinced that Poison and Flame had to be fucking with how often they slip off alone together. As for Cut, he didn't spend much time around anyone. He was always worried that something would set him off and he would hurt someone there, even though he was an asshole to them all, he did care for them.

"What do you think it is then?" Bite asked Cut. Cut shrugged not really knowing.

"Not anything that concerns us obviously. Don't worry so much," Cut said. 

"Not all of us can be as carefree as you Cut," Poison said.

Cut rolled his eyes, "Don't remind me." Bite and Poison returned to talking and theorizing about what it could be and Cut ignored them. He half wanted to play with the knife in his pocket out of boredom, but he remembered that Bite was a mere foot away from him, and chose not to. Bite saw right through him though.

"Cut," her soft voice broke through his thoughts, "I know you won't hurt me. I'm not scared of your knife."

"Maybe you should be," Cut replied, he didn't like the thought of someone trusting him so much.

"Maybe, but I'm not. Don't worry so much," Bite said with a coy smile, turning Cut's own words against him. Cut rolled his eyes again and went back to ignoring the two, but he did pull out his knife and fidget with it some. He opened the blade and looked into it. Intense blue eyes stared back. There weren't many mirrors at the cirque. Maybe Ringmaster was afraid of them being broken. Makeup for performances was always applied to everyone by Doll and Whisper. No one really seemed to mind though, Cut did. Maybe he was just vain, but he was always curious about his appearance. 

He found the appearance of people to tell stories about them. Lion had claw marks on his left arm, Cut thinks it's from when he was first working with Lions and got hurt. Bite had scars on her neck, short and plentiful, Cut suspects someone scratched her neck a lot. Poison often had purple or green staining around his lips, probably from eating all the poisonous plants he did. Cut wondered if people would change their habits here if they could see the physical effects, maybe that's what Ringmaster was trying to prevent. Cut gazed into his own blue eyes, tilting the knife some, he paused when his light brown skin flashed red for a moment. Cut closed his knife and shook his head softly, he never hallucinated before but maybe that was changing. 

"Child is strange," Bite said, Cut noticed the change in Poison and Bite's discussion and paid attention again.

"How so?" Poison asked.

"Well," Bite said, "She seems to understand things well for her age. I mean, she knows how to cater for Snake's OCD without being told all of the issues. Lion said that when told Wolf was a werewolf, Child looked at him for a moment before just nodding. She is so careful when touching Doll, almost as if she understands Doll's delusion without being told about it. It's strange." 

"Maybe it's a coping mechanism she developed," Cut said, gaining their attention again, "Perception can go a long way when it comes to protection." 

"Maybe," Bite quietly replied, "But perceiving something that there weren't even hints towards? It seems downright unnatural."

"So does a blind person climbing silks, or the fact The Twins have meltdowns when more than 20 feet away from each other," Cut said, "lots of shit here is unnatural. But here you all are."

"You talk like you're an outsider," Poison said, "like you aren't here the way we are."

"You all were abandoned or ran to here, I arrived differently," Cut said. 

"You never have told us how you arrived, I mean everyone knows that Target and Blade ran away together, and that I ran away to here, and that Switch was dropped off but... you haven't told us a thing," Bite said. 

Cut shrugged, "Why would you care?"

"Curiosity. You claim you're so different. But we don't have evidence to back your claim," Poison said. Bite nodded in agreement.

Cut scoffed, "Like hell would I tell you two. If you want to know so damn bad ask anyone here before me. Believe me, my arrival was a spectacle."

"Why?" Bite asked. Cut looked at her for a few moments, why did she want to know so badly? She didn't care for him nearly as much as the other people of the cirque, and it's not as if he has shown a particular fondness for her either. 

"Why do you want to know so damn bad?" Cut asked, an edge in his voice, but he tried to not sound like he was threatening her.

"You interest me," Bite said softly. Cut went to go say something else as Flame walked in. Poison looked over toward Flame almost instantly, and Flame made a small motion and Poison gave a quick bye to Bite and Cut before going off with Flame.

"I can't be the only one that suspects those two are up to something right?" Cut said to Bite.

"Probably not. It seems like they are close. You're avoiding the topic." Cut scowled at the comment. 

"If you want to know so badly, you'll have to come with me," Cut said, hoping she would be too scared to. 

Bite's curiosity outweighed her fear, "Lead the way then Cut."